Embassy Bomb Explosions in Rome May Be Linked

Two explosions this morning in Rome have the city on high alert. At noon local time, a package bomb exploded in the hands of a Swiss embassy worker, seriously injuring him. The 53-year-old man worked in the embassy mail room. Both his hands were severely injured and, according to police, he may lose one. He is currently in Humberto Primo hospital in Rome.

Reports of a second bomb, this time at the Chilean embassy in Rome, began surfacing at around 2 p.m. local time. One person has been reported injured in the explosion. According to Italian media, police are searching all foreign embassies in the city for other signs of explosives. A suspicious package was found at the Ukrainian embassy, but so far no explosives have been reported.

So far, there has been no claim of responsibility for either attack. However, an Italian daily reports that police are focusing on eco-terrorist groups protesting the jailing of Italian protesters in Swiss jails.

Rome has had other recent bomb scares, resulting in the city's residents shunning public spaces. On Tuesday, a bomb-like device was found underneath the seat of a metro train, sparking an evacuation of the area. Further analysis and dissemination by bomb and terror experts revealed that the device had no trigger and could not have exploded. While city officials declared that the bomb scare was simply a bad joke, some terror experts believe that it may have been a test or a dry run.

Officials have not yet investigated whether the two exploded package bombs at the embassies this morning are linked to the train bomb.

Tensions in Rome are already high. There have been recent violent protests against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in the city, and promises of upcoming student protests. Berlusconi is being blamed for corruption within his party, as well as the declining economic situation. The government's austerity measures have been met with sometimes violent opposition.

Since the two embassy bombs exploded, Roman officials have fielded several bomb threat phone calls, both to City Hall and to government offices. So far, no credible further threats have been identified.